2013 British Urban Film Festival programme is released (05/08/13)

Today #BUFF2013 can officially reveal the line-up of films, presenters and fixtures confirmed for the 2013 British Urban Film Festival. Among the line-up are distinguished names from the worlds of independent film, television and theatre.

#BUFF2013 will have a panel of experts offering opinion and debate as part of ‘Distribution D-Day’ – the opening event of the festival – from Channel 4 headquarters in Westminster on Thursday 5 September. Enrico Tessarin (co-producer of ‘The Knot’) will be joined by fellow movie producers Alan Mcqueen & Dean Fisher, film festival agent Rebekah Louisa Smith, sales agents David Cornwall & Sarah Chammartin, entertainment lawyer Tobi Olujunmi, Nadia Denton from BUFF, and Sarah Chorley from Shooting People – all qualified to give the best insight to delegates on the subject of distribution.

Joining the panel as guest filmmakers will be the brothers Naeem and Ash Mahmood who will be introducing a presentation on their forthcoming UK movie ‘Brash Young Turks’.

The 2nd event on day 1 is an encore screening of ‘The Key’ presented by actress Kyla Frye who will be joined by a panel of guests including Jimmy Akingbola from BBC’s ‘Holby City’ as they discuss what the key is to succeed in business and entertainment.

The actress Shereen Miranda will introduce the final event on day 1 at Channel 4 headquarters featuring the live performances of 3 scripts selected by BUFF as part of this year’s inaugural scriptwriting competition. The scripts to be performed will be ‘Face Up’ written by Yvonne Ossei, ‘Lost in Mozart’ by Jeff Nottingham and ‘The Office’ by Donna Marie Dowe.

All events being held at Channel 4 are free to attend and can be booked here:

On Friday 6 September, Metro film editor Larushka Ivan-Zadeh will host the live Q&A for the opening night gala movie from Odeon West End in Leicester Square – the International premiere of ‘Calloused Hands’ starring Andre Royo from HBO’s ‘The Wire’. Based on the true story of its writer/director Jesse Quinones, Calloused Hands is about a 12-year-old mixed race boy from Miami (Luca Oriel) with aspirations to be a baseball player. He is abused by his mother’s boyfriend Byrd (played by Royo), and neglected by his mother Debbie (Daisy Haggard). He manages to forge his own path in life when his long-lost grandfather Solomon (Hans Howes) insists he study for his Bar Mitzvah.

Actor and filmmaker Aml Ameen will also play a part in the opening night coverage with the UK premiere of his latest short film ‘Hoorah’ in which he stars and directs.

You can watch both films on Friday 6 September for £11.95 (+ booking fee) available from Odeon West End box office

plus the prestigious BUFF shorts UK showcase and the preview screening of ‘Quality Control’ (an interactive music television showcase). Join entertainment journalist Akosua Annobil, the ‘Quality’ man and live performances from some of the featured artists.

The BUFF shorts to be shown will be Driftwood, Pretty Bitch, Don’t let the door hit you on your way out, Cha Cha Cha, Love Prevails, The other side of the wall, 2008, Notes, Been a riot, Glimpse & Ambition to live.

Day 4 of the festival (to be shown on Sunday 8 September at Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel) starts with ‘The Fade’ – a feature length documentary from the producer of award-winning film ‘David is Dying’ (Andy Mundy-Castle).

The penultimate screening on Day 4 is BUFF’s 1st world premiere – the screening of ‘Traveller’ starring musician and actor David Essex OBE, Billy Cook (son of David Essex) and Jason Maza (‘Victim’/‘The Knot’). Join Film journalist Jessica Mellor for full coverage including the live Q&A.

#BUFF2013 closes at the same venue with the UK premiere of the award-winning mockumentary ‘Bloody Lip’ directed by Adriel Leff and starring Patrick Koupland. Join writer and actress Anjela Lauren Smith for the final live Q&A of the festival.

You can watch any film on Saturday 7 September and Sunday 8 September for £10 (+ booking fee) available from Oxford House box office and Genesis box office respectively.

Alongside the festival (sponsored by Jilali Argan Oil), BUFF will screen a special preview show on Community Channel presented by Kyla Frye, Winsome Duncan & Shereen Miranda. Broadcast on the eve of the festival, the programme will have key interviews with some of the headline makers + special features including a guest appearance from actor Riz Ahmed. Also showing as part BUFF’s on-air coverage will be the documentary ‘One Mile Away’ (directed by Penny Woolcock).

Penny Woolcock’s award-winning documentary charts the attempts by two warring gangs, the Burger Bar Boys (B21) and the Johnson Crew (B6), to bring peace to their neighbourhoods in inner city Birmingham. It follows Penny Woolcock’s hip hop musical 1 Day, which was partly informed by these postcode wars.

The opening night gala for BUFF 2013 kicks off with the UK premiere of short film ‘Hoorah’ directed by and starring Aml Ameen (featuring soon in ‘The Butler’). Hoorah is about a discharged military veteran who discovers his wife and best friend murdered when he arrives home. Panicked and surprised, he calls the police, then begins to investigate the scene for clues. As he scans the scene he notices certain objects that look all too familiar. He then discovers a semi-automatic handgun sitting directly across from the lifeless bodies. The horrific events that took place begin to unfold.

Clayton Murdoch (played by Ashley ‘Bashy’ Thomas) carries a terrible darkness inside him. As a boy he was exposed, by his father (played by David Harewood), to murder and gang culture, With his father now in prison, Clayton struggles to overcome what he was groomed to become, in a city where every day there is a constant threat of violence and death. Clayton channels his aggression into boxing. Controlled, powerful, contained. However, when the violence starts to destroy his own family, Clayton loses control, and the darkness within him is unleashed. And now, to get the revenge against those who have taken his loved ones, he must ask the one man he fears the most for help, his father. With everything around him falling apart and the full shocking fury in him let loose, Clayton must look death in the face and find out who is the man inside. Also starring Peter Mullan, Ray Panthaki, Michelle Ryan, and Jason Maza.

Dir: Dan Turner (UK/99 mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “Latvia”

Tickets: £10 (including live Q&A with Shereen Miranda & guests)

7 Sept/4.15pm/Oxford House

If you’re looking for a British urban film in its purest form, look no further than Latvia, a film which pulls no punches and is set against the backdrop of love and guns. Set in London, it’s the story of two young men and the greed and violence that corrupts their childhood friendship. Starring Jack Miguel, Stephen Joseph, Daniel Fleurie, Martha Mackintosh and Tony Resta.

Dir: Barry Derbyshire (UK/84mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “Quality Control” (UK PREMIERE)*

Tickets: £10 (including live Q&A with Akosua Annobil & guests)

7 Sept/6.15pm/Oxford House

Quality Control is the fresh, innovative and daring music concept that is re-defining the parameters for music programming and allowing audiences to dictate who they want to see in this quality laden show. The culmination of nearly two years dogged determination, now sees the brand and movement that is Quality Control (now supported by The Arts Council) gain intense momentum within the industry and of course the public through their use of the exclusively designed mobile app that allows critical social interaction and creates a unique and alternative QC Music Chart. Produced by 4Front Media, Quality Control is set to be the next big thing in music entertainment programming whilst taking the Twittersphere and application world by storm!

Total running time: 90 mins

*Quality Control will also be shown at Channel 4 HQ on Thursday 5 September at 5.45pm. The Channel 4 screening is an invite-only event and is not available to the public.

Traditionally, one of the highlights in the British Urban Film Festival schedule, the UK’s most talented directors in short film come together to celebrate the pick of this year’s BUFF selections. Join festival director, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe for an evening of diversity in action.

From the producer of award-winning ‘David is Dying’ comes ‘The Fade’: 4 barbers, 4 lives, 1 story… The Fade is an intimate portrait of four Afro barbers across the world over seven days. Set in Ghana, Jamaica, USA and the UK the observational documentary interweaves the stories of the barbers and examines the polarized opposites of the locations. The result is an international dialogue chronicling the colourful lives of four men who do the same thing in different time zones, with very different realities.

With a cast list featuring Jason Maza, David Essex OBE and introducing Billy Cook (son of David Essex), the world premiere of ‘Traveller’ is a film from the heart which chronicles a year in the life of a half-breed Gypsy as he tries, against the odds, to adjust to the 21st century and leave his roots behind.

‘Bloody Lip’ is the closing night film for BUFF 2013 – an award-winning comedy mockumentary from writer Adriel Leff making his directorial debut and tells the story of working class inner-city middling professional heavyweight boxer Patrick St George Junior (played by Patrick Koupland) who has just seven days to prepare for the fight of his life against childhood rival Liam O’Saink (played by Dominic Koupland) – a bout which, if triumphant, will result in Junior achieving his life’s goal; bettering the win/loss record laid down by his domineering father Patrick St George Senior (played by Jon Mckenna) during his own short-lived boxing career. But with a fractious on-again-off-again relationship with his middle class girlfriend Bekka Green (played by Bekka Bowling) and a whole heap of pressure from Liam’s menacing promoter Teddy Toddsworth (played by Dominic Mchale) thrown into the mix, what kind of a mental and physical state will Patrick Junior be in come fight night? Win or lose, one thing’s for sure; by the end of the week, Patrick St George’s life will never be the same again…

Dir: Adriel Leff (UK/52 mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “Love Nest” (ONLINE EXCLUSIVE)

9 Sept/8.00pm/britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk

Dir: Mustafa Boga (UK/13 mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “Sea Change” (ONLINE EXCLUSIVE)

9 Sept/8.00pm/britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk

Dir: Marinella Setti (UK/24 mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “Reckless” (SEASON 2 – EPISODE 3)

9 Sept/8.00pm/britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk/ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Dir: Yvonne Phillip/Beau Baptist (UK/12 mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “The Ting”

9 Sept/8.00pm/britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk

Dir: Jeremy Cole (UK/4 mins)

#BUFF2013 presents… “Woolwich Boys” (ONLINE EXCLUSIVE)

9 Sept/8.00pm/britishurbanfilmfestival.co.uk

Dir: Anthony Abuah (UK/88 mins)

All listings are subject to change. All films carry a 12A certificate.